When bees sting, they pump poison into their victims. Now the toxin in bee venom has been harnessed to kill tumor cells by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers attached the major component of bee venom to nano-sized spheres that they call nanobees.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered that itch-specific neurons exist in mice, and their studies suggest that itch and pain signals are transmitted along different pathways in the spinal cord. The researchers say they can knock out an animal's itch response without affecting its ability to sense pain.
Students who learn history by watching historically based blockbuster movies may be doomed to repeat the historical mistakes portrayed within them, suggests a study from psychologists at Washington University in St. Louis.
Reporting online Aug. 5 in the New England Journal of Medicine, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine have sequenced the genome of a patient with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), discovering a suite of genetic changes in the cancer cells. Their research has revealed that one of these mutations also is common in certain brain tumors called gliomas and that another occurred in a second patient with the same type of leukemia. Neither mutation had been previously linked to leukemia.
Researchers have modeled Parkinson's-associated dementia for the first time, showing that a single night of sleep loss in genetically altered fruit flies caused long-lasting disruptions in the flies' cognitive abilities comparable to aspects of Parkinson's-associated dementia. They then blocked this effect by feeding the flies large doses of the spice curcumin.
Whether your child is going away to college this fall across town or across the country, there are more ways to keep in touch than ever before. With today's ubiquitous cell phones and access to Twitter, Facebook and texting, it may seem as though your child has never left the house. For students, there is the ever-present possibility of an available parent at the end of a cordless tether, which has the potential to hinder the letting go process, claims an expert on the college transition at Washington University in St. Louis.
Traditional rice cultivation methods practiced in the isolated hillside farms of Thailand are helping preserve the genetic diversity of rice, one of the world's most important food crops, according to a new study by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and Chiang Mai University in Thailand.
Doing something unusual, like knocking on wood or patting yourself on the head, while taking a daily dose of medicine may be an effective strategy to help seniors remember whether they've already taken their daily medications, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis.
A St. Louis-based team of plant and physician-scientists with a vision of eradicating malnutrition throughout the developing world today announced the formation of the Global Harvest Alliance (GHA), a humanitarian effort involving St. Louis Children's Hospital, The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and Washington University School of Medicine.
Every year, thousands of parents learn of their children's food allergies following a reaction that can affect many body systems, including the skin, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and/or cardiovascular systems. About 2 million school age children have food allergy, and one child in 20 under age 3 has food allergy.
Nighttime bedwetting, or primary nocturnal enuresis, is a common condition in children, and most outgrow it. However, if bedwetting occurs after age 6 or 7, it may raise social and psychological issues.
We've heard so much about depression in adults and teens. But new research shows even young, preschool-aged children can experience early signs of depression.
A lunar geochemist at Washington University in St. Louis says that there are still many answers to be gleaned from the moon rocks collected by the Apollo 11 astronauts on their historic moonwalk 40 years ago July 20.
A recently identified gene allows immune cells to start the self-destructive processes thought to underlie autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and rheumatoid arthritis, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shed new light on a process that fixes breaks in the genetic material of the body's cells. Their findings could lead to ways of enhancing chemotherapy drugs that destroy cancer cells by damaging their DNA.
"With President Obama now approaching six months in office, some have suggested that we have gone beyond race as a major dividing line in society. Yet nothing could be further from the truth," says Mark R. Rank, Ph.D., professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis.
Freshwater fish are an important part of the diet of many peoples around the world, but it has been unclear when fish became an important part of the year-round diet for early humans. A new study by an international team of researchers, including Erik Trinkaus, Ph.D., professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, shows it may have happened in China as far back as 40,000 years ago.
Cancerous tumors sometimes form at the site of chronic wounds or injury, but the reason why is not entirely clear. Now researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have engineered mice with a persistent wound-like skin condition, and the mice are helping them understand the tumor-promoting effects of long-standing wounds and injuries.
Pig heart valves used to replace defective aortic valves in human patients failed much earlier and more often than expected, says a report from cardiac surgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. This is the first report to demonstrate this potential problem, the researchers say.
The United States has attempted to pass major health reform legislation eight times in the last century, starting in the mid 1910s up through 1993-94 with the failed Clinton health reform effort. "Only once in that period was any legislation passed "” in 1964-65 when Medicare and Medicaid were passed," says Timothy McBride, Ph.D., associate dean of public health at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. "Yet, for many reasons, I feel that it is much more likely that legislation will pass this year."
As the Iranian government continues to crack down on citizens protesting against the recent disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an expert on Iran at Washington University in St. Louis says the Iranian administration wants the legitimacy of having won an election without actually having allowed a true election to take place.
An Iranian-American scholar at Washington University in St. Louis has been posting daily updates from friends and academic contacts within Iran on election-related turmoil as part of her long-running electronic newsletter on cultural, political and social issues in Iran. Her Web site, Windows on Iran, posts cell phone videos and firsthand anecdotes.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis four grants totaling $19 million to explore the trillions of microbes that inhabit the human body and determine how they contribute to good health and disease.
New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found substantial reductions in binge drinking since the national drinking age was set at 21 two decades ago, with one exception: college students. The rates of binge drinking in male collegians remain unchanged, but the rates in female collegians have increased dramatically.
Many cancerous tumors possess a genetic mutation that disables a tumor suppressor called PTEN. Now researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown why inactivation of PTEN allows tumors to resist radiation therapy.
If you're clueless about petrology, paleobiology and plate tectonics, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Earth Science Literacy Initiative (ESLI) have just released a free pamphlet offering a concise primer on what all Americans should know about the Earth sciences.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have created a line of fruit flies that may someday help shed light on the mechanisms that cause insomnia in humans. The flies, which get a small fraction of the sleep of normal flies, resemble insomniac humans in several ways.
A drug with potential to prevent epilepsy caused by a genetic condition may also help prevent more common forms of epilepsy caused by brain injury, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Research has shown that talking on a cell phone poses a dangerous distraction for drivers and others whose attention should be elsewhere. Now, a new psychology study finds that just the ring of a cell phone may be equally distracting, especially when it comes in a classroom setting or includes a familiar song as a ringtone.
An opening ceremony for what could be one of North America's greenest buildings "” a flagship building on the cutting edge of sustainable design and energy efficiency "” will take place at 4 p.m. May 29 at Washington University in St. Louis' new Living Learning Center at the university's Tyson Research Center. The Living Learning Center is a 2,900-square-foot facility built to meet the Living Building Challenge "” designed to be the most stringent green building rating system in the world "” of the Cascadia Region Green Building Council (CRGBC).
June 3 industry conference on challenges faced by companies with global supply chains. One day meeting will feature presentations by supply chain managers at 7 major corporations including Boeing, Emerson, Monsanto, ExpressScripts. Strategies for dealing with recession and eventual economic recovery to be among topics.
A procedure that uses heat generated by radio waves to treat Barrett's esophagus, a condition caused by acid reflux (severe heartburn), can eliminate signs of the potentially cancer-causing disorder and reduce the risk that the disease will progress. Findings from the first multicenter trial of the procedure, called radiofrequency ablation, could mean patients have an alternative to surgery for treating Barrett's esophagus. The investigators report their findings in the May 28 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Women of childbearing age can reduce the risk of having a child born with a neural tube defect such as spina bifida by eating enough folate or folic acid. New research using mice at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis confirms the importance of another nutrient, inositol, to protect against the development of neural tube defects.
A 47-million-year-old primate fossil, a purported "missing link" between primates and humans, was unveiled this week in New York. The fossil, formally called Darwinius masillae but nicknamed Ida, could, due to it being an essentially whole skeleton, shed light on the construction of the primate family tree, says an expert on primate evolution at Washington University in St. Louis.
The New America Foundation and Center for Social Development (CSD) at Washington University in St. Louis announce a new College Savings Initiative to examine and improve 529 college savings plans so more people have the opportunity to attend and complete college. "Saving money is not easy, but research shows many people can save when they have incentives and a way to do so.
The Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis will launch a Master of Science in Supply Chain Management specialized program in September 2009. The 12-month, 36-credit-hour program will be multi-disciplinary with a cutting-edge curriculum and active collaboration with industry leaders and the supply chain issues they encounter.
Many children who get a severe skin rash develop asthma months or years later. Doctors call the progression from eczema to breathing problems the atopic march. Now scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have uncovered what might be the key to atopic march. They've shown that a substance secreted by damaged skin triggers asthmatic symptoms in allergen-exposed laboratory mice.
A new drug-free treatment for asthma has been shown to be effective in an international study of patients with severe, uncontrolled asthma. Conducted at 30 sites around the world, including Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the trial tested a procedure designed to reduce the ability of the lung's airways to contract and interfere with breathing.
Inexperience and time give recent college graduates an advantage in solving the problems of inequity in education in the United States, said Wendy Kopp to the Class of 2009 during the 148th Commencement ceremony at Washington University in St. Louis. "This is a solvable problem," said Kopp, the founder and chief executive officer of Teach For America "” a national corps of outstanding college graduates who commit to teach for at least two years in some of the country's highest-need schools.
Any child confronting an outraged parent demanding to know "What were you thinking?" now has a new response: "Scientists have discovered that my brain is organized differently than yours."
Wendy Kopp, founder and C.E.O. of Teach For America "” the national corps of outstanding college graduates who commit to teach for at least two years in some of the country's highest-need schools "” has been selected to give the 2009 Commencement address at Washington University in St. Louis.
Obesity and gallstones often go hand in hand. But not in mice developed at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Even when these mice eat high-fat diets, they don't become obese, but they do develop gallstones. Researchers say the findings offer clues about genetic factors related to gallstones.
Working with an asthma coach helps to significantly reduce hospitalizations of low-income, African-American children with asthma, results of a new, two-year study show.
Certain characteristics of preschool-aged children at high risk for asthma could help physicians deliver more personalized and effective treatment.
"Timely identification and diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can impact a child's development and is the key to opening the door to the services and therapies available to children with autism," says Paul Shattuck, Ph.D., assistant professor at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. "Unfortunately, our research shows that the average age of autism diagnosis is nearly six years old, which is three to four years after diagnosis is possible."
As America considers major healthcare reforms, it may have lessons to learn from Seguro Popular, Mexico's ambitious plan to improve healthcare for its estimated 50 million uninsured citizens, suggests Ryan Moore, co-author of a study published April 8 in The Lancet, a leading international medical journal.
Arlen Specter's switch to the Democratic Party will raise questions about the Republican Party's ability to appeal to moderate voters, but Democrats should realize Specter will likely remain fairly independent in his voting, including ongoing opposition to pro-union "card check" provisions, suggests WUSTL congressional expert Steven S. Smith.
The largest award pool for social entrepreneurship in the U.S. was split five ways on April 23, 2009 when winners of the Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition (SEIC) were announced at Washington University in St. Louis. The five finalists were chosen from an original field of 42 entrants and represent diverse ventures with missions to provide educational and cultural and vocational training.
The Brookings Institution and Washington University in St. Louis will begin offering joint programs including internships, lectures and other educational activities, the institutions announced today. Washington University's John M. Olin Business School will also lead management of Brookings' executive education activities, effective July 1, 2009.
Envy is the new greed according to professors at Washington University in St. Louis. While greed has been blamed for most of financial sector's problems, new research indicates envy is the real culprit. Researches warn envy is driving top talent from Wall Street and the banking industry and it could wreak even more havoc on the economy in the months to come.
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